The Mechanics — And Messaging — Behind Switching Out Joe Biden For Kamala Harris

WASHINGTON ― In one of the most stunning weeks in American politics, President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. The change leaves Harris with less than four months to prove to voters that she’s the best person to lead the country ― and to defeat Donald Trump.

Democrats have raced to publicly unitebehind Harris, and their efforts are already reenergizinga base of supporters sapped of enthusiasm for Biden, who was plummeting in the polls after a disastrous debate performancelast month in Atlanta.

But there’s another side to a massive transition like this ― namely, the mechanics of it all ― that’s being hashed out behind the scenes and has raised questions. How can you just swap in Harris for Biden, after voters across the country picked Biden to be the Democratic nominee? How is Biden’s campaign going to suddenly revamp its entire operation for a different candidate?

The short answer is that this is a lot easier to do because Harris was already on the presidential ticket with Biden. The long answer is that it’s not just about mechanics, but messaging.

Federal Election Committee rules allow Harris to use the tens of millions of dollars in existing Biden-Harris campaign funds, the campaign’s tens of thousands of employees, and its crucial voter data lists (though Trump has already filed a complaint challenging her ability to do this).

“A major party’s presumptive nominee stepping down months before Election Day is not an ordinary event, but it is also not a crisis,” Trevor Potter, president of Campaign Legal Center, said in a statement. “There are Democratic Party rules in place to govern the process of selecting a new nominee.